Percy and Bernice guessed right; the young count was cursing them, and so were their peers in the weaponry town.

"Cheng Xi is really inconsiderate! He ran off quickly himself, leaving us here to suffer!"

"Isn't that right? I was even chatting away with him about the best places to go, thinking of taking him along, and the next day, he and his wife were gone!"

"He is a grandmaster, considered our leader, yet when trouble arose, no one ran faster than him!"

"You should talk less. On the night Count Aston died, he risked sending you a message, but you didn't listen. Who's to blame for that? And you, with your big mouth, saying you'd take them with you. Ridiculous. Everyone knows you're going to seek refuge with the mayor. Do you really think working for the mayor will be better than working for the count?"

Although Sharp was being held by the soldiers, his verbal combat skills were not diminished in the slightest. With just a few words, he had the surrounding group of weapon masters too ashamed to lift their heads.

Sharp and Percy were old buddies and both master-level weaponsmiths. When Percy fled, he sent Sharp a message, but unlike Percy, Sharp had two children studying away from home. Shortly after the war broke out, his two children had already set off together to return home, but the blockade between various factions was too strict, and they were still on the road. Sharp couldn't communicate with his children now, so he could only stay here and wait for them to come back.

"You must be Master Summer, right?"

While Sharp was worrying about his child, the Earl of Adams appeared before him.

The Earl of Adams treated Sharp quite well. Upon seeing the heavy chains on him, he immediately criticized his subordinates and ordered them to release him at once.

"Master, you've suffered. I am brainless and incapable of handling matters; we had no intention of opposing you." Count Adams forcibly took Sharp's recently untied hand and shook it, "Becoming friends with you is our true wish."

Sharp's face looked very unpleasant, and he didn't want to respond to Earl Adams at all. However, under the circumstances, he couldn't afford to offend Earl Adams too much, so he didn't pull his hand away.

Earl Adams nodded in satisfaction at Sharp's cooperation, which finally eased his previously terrible mood.

"Master, please follow me. Your wife as well. We have prepared the most luxurious house for you, and we invite you to rest there."

The room that Count Adams prepared for Sharp was in the office building of the Weapon Town. The office building was quite large, so Count Adams had a few rooms temporarily prepared for Sharp and his companions to stay in.

So it turns out that all the master weapon smiths and elite weapon smiths were being held under house arrest in this building.

Sharp and the other weapon masters exchanged a silent glance, not a single word was spoken.

Earl Adams knew these people and saw their silent exchanges, but as long as they didn't speak or communicate, it didn't matter.

"The outside is truly chaotic. To ensure the safety of you esteemed masters, I must ask you to endure this inconvenience for a while. Once everything is settled, you will all be honored as heroes of our kingdom," Count Adams said, calling over the head guard to introduce himself to the masters.

The guard captain obeyed the order and introduced himself.

Count Adams said, "Masters, you need not worry about safety while staying here. This chief guard is my nephew, and at a young age, he has already become a seventh-level mage. Additionally, there are two eighth-level mages lurking in the shadows. No one will be able to breach the building's defenses. Similarly, I'm afraid the masters won't be able to leave for a short while. If you need anything, let the chief guard prepare it for you."

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Every sentence avoided threats, yet every sentence was a threat. The weapon masters' magic levels were not very high, and when they were captured, all their various weapons were confiscated. Now, they had no choice but to obey orders.

I'm sorry, but it seems like the source text is missing. Could you please provide the text you would like translated?

The north was in complete chaos, and the south was not entirely safe either.

Gerald had just finished harvesting the rice a few days ago when he was attacked on the street. However, he had a defense card, and he managed to dodge the first and most lethal strike.

The assailant was caught on the spot, but when the town's prison officers interrogated him, he didn't say a word.

The officer shook his head at Gerard: "This guy is really tough, not saying a single word."

They did not interrogate him gently; instead, they used extremely harsh methods of torture, but that person refused to say a single word.

The soldiers couldn't get any answers, so they had to wait. Gerard had no choice either and went home first.

That very night, someone broke into Gerard's house.

Two men burst in, both dressed in black and with their faces covered. Their levels weren't high, but because there were many of them, it was enough to deal with Gerard. Gerard used up all his defense cards before finally killing the two.

Of course, when the battle ended, Gerard's body was covered in wounds.

"Brother, quickly drink the potion!" Gerald's sister hurriedly handed him a bottle of hemostatic potion.

However, Gerard shook his head and refused, taking out a new bottle from his own storage bag. The one in his sister's hand was specifically reserved for her by Gerard. He had his own, so there was no need to use his sister's.

"I'm much better now, I'm fine. Go check on Mom, she probably hasn't woken up yet. If she has, go and comfort her."

Although Gerard's mother had been cured of the evil spirit's curse, her body still suffered damage. Gerard feared that his mother had fainted from shock and remained silent.

The younger sister went into the room and quickly shouted back, "Mom is indeed awake, but it's nothing serious!"

Gerald's mother also knew the battle was over and dared to speak: "I'm fine. I didn't say anything just now because I was afraid of distracting you during the fight."

"Alright, as long as everything's fine, you don't need to come out!"

Gerald shouted back to the two, and his hand had already touched the corpse of a masked man.

These two men were dressed the same as the ones who attacked him on the street during the day; he suspected that the three of them were in cahoots.

However, after examining the two bodies, Gerard found no clues.

"How is it?" It was my sister poking her head out to ask about the situation.

Gerald shook his head, "No clues found. Let's wait until tomorrow to show it to the officers."

In the latter half of the night, Gerard didn't dare to sleep either. He just sat guarding in front of his sister's and mother's door. The cooler the night wind became, the clearer his mind grew, and he thought of two directions of suspicion.

One possibility is seeking wealth. He had recently hired too many people, generously giving out gold coins, and was selling potions everywhere, making quite a splash. If someone was desperate for money, they might really target him.

The second direction, Gerard guessed, was related to the previous material collection mission. He still remembered that father and son, remembered their sarcastic and malicious glances at him, and the group of mercenaries who trusted them unconditionally... Later, Gerard's mission was proven to be genuine, and many mercenaries switched sides to complete his mission, which surely affected the father and son's mission. If their mission didn't go so smoothly, would they take their anger out on him?

Gerald could only think of that father and son as his enemies, and given that the three masked men were all well-trained, he was inclined to believe it was them.

However, these were just speculations. Gerard couldn't be sure if these people were really connected to that father and son. All he could do was report to the authorities and send a message to Su Yao.

……

Su Yao received the news the next morning.

Although Gerard said he hadn't encountered any more strange people, Su Yao was still very uneasy.

Su Yao called Zhan Xing over: "Would Lord Zhan Xing be willing to take on another position?"

Zhan Xing leisurely took a bite of the bun, wagged his tail, and asked, "What position?"

"Delivery person!" Su Yao took out the order machine to introduce it to Zhan Xing.

Zhan Xing's flight was incredibly fast, covering thousands of miles in a day, making him the perfect candidate for a delivery person.

But Zhan Xing turned his head directly, "No way, I'm not doing it. We agreed from the start, I'm only responsible for guarding the inn."

When Zhan Xing brought this up, Su Yao immediately went silent, not saying another word.

Not for any other reason, just because she felt guilty.

This kind of mid-contract change was truly the most disgusting maneuver to her.

"Although I am a boss now, putting myself in others' shoes, I still really dislike this kind of behavior!"

Su Yao turned and left, but Zhan Xing felt something was off. After hesitating for a few seconds, he flashed in front of Su Yao, blocking her path. "Why did you leave without saying anything?"

"Because I think backing out at the last minute is really bad, and I don't really want to do something like that. I'll just find someone else again." Su Yao expressed her thoughts sincerely.

Zhan Xing carefully observed Su Yao's expression and was relieved to find that she was indeed not angry.

This misunderstanding also gave Zhan Xing a new perspective on Su Yao. "I didn't expect there to be such good people among humans. No wonder you're the boss I chose!"

Zhan Xing pushed Su Yao back to her original position with his paw. "I don't really like working, but if there are gold coins and diamonds, working isn't out of the question."

"Besides, you're a good person, I like you, I'm willful, and I'm willing to change my mind!" Zhan Xing took out the previously signed contract and handed it to Su Yao. "Let's amend this contract."

"Are you really willing?" Su Yao said incredulously, "This is indeed my fault, you don't have to do this."

Zhan Xing shook his head: "Don't think that I'm doing all this just for you. I also enjoy the thrill of hunting for treasures everywhere."

The last time he delivered fertilizer and medicine, Zhan Xing brought back a bunch of good things from the small town of Nanshan. Not only gold coins and diamonds, but also food and clothes, all of which Zhan Xing liked very much.

"This continent has good things here and good things there. If I can collect them all, that would be the best. If you really want to thank me, then hurry up and find the thief for me."

Since Zhan Xing maxed out his favorability, he never mentioned the thief again. However, Su Yao always kept it in mind, but unfortunately, she never found any more clues.

"I will definitely find the thief!" Su Yao promised.

"Alright, it's settled then." Zhan Xing had already taken out the treasure and mineral map that Su Yao had given him earlier and was examining it.